Network News

                                   v2.03

                            (c)1994 Roy Coates


Network News provides a simple method for providing system news to users.
The news files are in plain ascii and so can be imported from many other
sources, and your favourite editor can be used in the creation of news items.

News is invoked by simply typing NEWS.  Normal users will be shown a list
of available news items which they may scroll through using the cursor keys,
and by pressing ENTER to view them.

Users with Console_Operator rights will see the word [News-Editor] at the top
of the News screen - this indicates that they may also use the INS and DEL
keys from the main menu to Add or Remove news items, and use 'E' to edit
existing items.


INSTALLATION
============

DEFAULT    (Uses UK date format dd/mm/yy)
-------
1. Create a directory called SYS:NEWS which is readable by your users,
   and read/write for you.

2. Copy NEWS.EXE to a directory in the users path.

3. Type NEWS... away you go :)


CUSTOM  (Change default news directory and/or use US date format mm/dd/yy)
------

1. Create a directory in which to store the new articles. This must be
   readable by your users.

2. Copy NEWS.EXE to a directory in the users path.

3. Create a plain ascii file called SYS:PUBLIC\NETNEWS.CFG
   This may contain any of the following lines:-

   DATE=US             ( Use US date format mm/dd/yy )
   DATE=UK             ( Use UK data format dd/mm/yy )
   DIR=<dirname>       ( Changes the default directory for news articles }

4. Type NEWS... and away you go :)


example SYS:PUBLIC\NETNEWS.CFG file

DATE=US               ( Forces use of dates in mm/dd/yy format )
DIR=SYS2:NEWS         ( Forces use of this dirctory for all news files )




Readme's:-

1. News will create occasional files called NEWSFILE.$$$ in your current
   directory while either editing an existing news item, or creating a
   new one.

2. Editing an existing news item is actually done on a temporary copy so
   that the existing file is still available to all users.

3. News simply shells a DOS call to EDIT when it needs an editor either
   for creating a new news item, or editing an existing one. Simply
   rename your favourite editor to EDIT and ensure that it is in your path.
   NOTE: News files MUST be in plain ascii

4. News will NOT display articles to users if the date of the article is
   later than the current date. This allows you to post news ahead of time.
   (Note: Console_Operators (Editors) will see ALL news articles)

5. News currently supports up to 500 articles of up to 250 lines each, note
   that each line will be truncated to 76 characters to fit on the screen

6. Yes - there is a news reader for Windows - I just need to whizz our site
   name out of it and then it will be available.

7. As usual, News is freeware for non-profit use.

If you find this program useful, find bugs, or have some ideas you'd like
to see added, please mail me at:-   roy@mechnet.liv.ac.uk

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